Catch me if you can! Photographer captures life or death struggle between hungry cormorant and eel lasting five minutes. . . but does the eel survive?

Nature can appear cruel and heartless but unlike man animals eat out of necessity rather than greed.

This was a life or death struggle between a hungry cormorant and an eel on the lagoon at Abbotsbury in Dorset.

The sea bird tossed the eel into the air in an attempt to gulp it down as it usually does a fish but found that the eel is not as accommodating as a fish.

There began a battle that lasted five minutes as the cormorant and the eel battled for dinner and life.

In the end, the powerful cormorant came out on top and dinner was eaten at a gobble.

The cormorant grabs what it hopes will be its dinner from the lagoon at Abbotsbury in Dorset but quickly realises that what it hoped would be fast food is actually going to take some effort before dinner can be served

Allez-oop: Up it goes the cormorant throws the eel into the air and prepares to swallow as it comes down